Walker highlights skills gap (AUDIO)

Governor Scott Walker said thousands of jobs are waiting to be filled – waiting for workers with the right skills. Walker told a meeting of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce in Madison on Tuesday that the state Department of Workforce Development’s web portal lists 34,000 jobs. “It’s not just as simple as saying “create more jobs,” it’s the fact that we have jobs in this state, particularly in the areas of manufacturing, we just don’t have enough skilled workers to match those jobs. That is a challenge for us.”

Walker said he’s heard about the “skills gap” at job creator listening sessions around the state recently. Walker told WMC that helping to close that “skills gap” will be a priority following the special legislative session on jobs creation. “You know all time politicians talk about jobs. The mistake most politicians make, including some Republicans, is they think that we create the jobs. We don’t create the jobs. We create an environment that is either better or worse, positive or negative. And right now we’re doing all that we can to create a better environment.” Wisconsin’s August unemployment rate was at eight percent.